


Tumblr Ficlets & WIP Amnesty

by notsodarling



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, F/F, F/M, M/M, Tumblr Prompt, unfinished wips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-25 17:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22499725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsodarling/pseuds/notsodarling
Summary: A place to put all my tumblr ficlets & fics from my WIP folder that I'll probably never finish.
Relationships: Jenna Cameron/Maria DeLuca, Maria DeLuca/Liz Ortecho, Max Evans & Michael Guerin, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 9
Kudos: 71





	1. Echo + Tickle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: a character discovering the other is ticklish (for [echoapothecary](https://echoapothecary.tumblr.com/))
> 
> Originally posted [here](https://jumbled-nonsense.tumblr.com/post/190567888838) on tumblr

Liz knows Max is staring at her, she can feel his gaze. It doesn’t bother her, not these days. Not after everything they’ve gone through. These days it feels safe. Loved. Cherished. It feels like for the first time in a long time they can just… be. There’s this lightness in everything, no serial killer aliens to worry about, no government conspiracies.

She keeps her eyes on the sunset in the distance, the horizon painted in hues of purple, red, and orange. They’ve temporarily moved the sofa from the living room into the doorway leading out onto the fire pit. Liz has her back against the arm rest, her feet on Max’s lap. She can feel him gently run a finger over the skin, tracing the bones that run from her ankle to her toes, his touch almost feather light, but Liz is so attuned to Max now, she’d know the feeling of his fingertips anywhere.

Max trails a finger down from the top to the underside of her foot, and Liz can’t help but involuntarily twitch from the feeling.

“Are you _ticklish_?”

Finally, Liz looks over at Max, rolling her eyes playfully at the way he’s smiling at the discovery. Before she can respond, he gently runs a finger across the skin on the underside of her foot, along the arch-

“Max!” 

She tries to scold him but it comes out with a laugh and an uncontrollable smile on her face as she feels him do it again, this time bending his fingers just enough.

“You _are_ ticklish!”

Her feet trapped, Liz leans forward and digs her fingers into his side, hoping to elicit a similar response out of him, and watches as Max folds to the side, trying to move away - she’s found his ticklish spot. She feels his hands move out of instinct, and curls her feet back up underneath her, protecting herself from further tickle attacks by him. She leans in some more, digging her fingers into his side, enjoying watching him squirm.

“Not fair!”

Liz smiles, dropping her hands to brace herself so her face is only inches away from Max’s.

“All’s fair in tickle wars, Max Evans.”


	2. Camluca + Come Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: a character asking the other to return (for [reachedthebitterend](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reachedthebitterend/pseuds/reachedthebitterend))
> 
> Originally posted [here](https://jumbled-nonsense.tumblr.com/post/190591438098) on tumblr

Maria wakes to an empty bed. The bedsheets are pushed back, and as she reaches a hand out, realizes the space has gone cold. For a moment she stares at the ceiling, letting her body wake up before she heads into the kitchen to make coffee.

It's then that she hears movement coming from the kitchen, and Maria presses her smile back into the pillow under her. After a moment she spurs herself into action, grabbing a sweatshirt from her closet, and pulling it over her head - the house is always colder first thing in the morning.

Maria pauses in the doorway to the kitchen, leaning against the wall, and watching as Jenna flips some bacon in a pan, her hips swaying ever so slightly, like she's dancing to a song stuck in her head. While Maria had opted for a sweatshirt, Jenna is standing in front of the stove in the same tank top and boxer shorts she'd worn to bed, only now her hair is pulled up into a messy ponytail, up and out of the way as she cooks. 

As quietly as she can, Maria crosses the space until she can put her hands on Jenna's hips and press up against her back.

"Morning," Maria whispers into the skin of Jenna's shoulder.

She can hear Jenna place the tongs she'd been using down on the counter, and lets her spin around between her hands. Jenna leans in, so they're standing forehead to forehead.

"Morning."

"I was about to ask you to come back to bed," Maria says, smiling as she pulls back so they can look at each other. She isn't about to admit that she thought Jenna had  _ left _ before she'd woken up.

It's been weeks since the first time Jenna had kissed her - it had been just the two of them left at the Pony after closing, a routine for them on the nights Maria closed instead of handing it off to one of the other employees. And in that time, they'd gotten to know each other - Jenna telling Maria about her time in the Army, about moving to Roswell, and about her sister, Charlie. It had made the evenings go by quicker, and it was distraction enough for Maria from thinking of her own problems, and she had started to realize that not only was she enjoying Jenna's company, but that she  _ liked _ Jenna, sometimes letting her mind wander enough to wonder what it would be like to kiss her. Though she didn't have to wait long, since Jenna had been thinking the same thing, pressing Maria against the bar, a strangled  _ Can I kiss you _ before they were colliding together.

"I thought breakfast would be nice." 

"It is." Maria smiles, letting Jenna turn back around before the bacon burns, and crosses over to the coffee maker, grabbing a mug from the cabinet. Coffee cup warming her hands, Maria leans back against the counter to watch Jenna plate the bacon, before starting on the eggs.

They haven't had a conversation about  _ them _ , about whatever  _ this _ is between them. It's never felt like just sex, not even that first night when they'd crashed together and ended up on the couch in the back office, too desperate to wait until they got to an actual bed. But Maria isn't even sure Jenna is staying in Roswell - she'd come back because of Max's "disappearance," and had already admitted she'd stayed longer than planned.

Part of Maria wishes it was just sex, so when Jenna inevitably leaves, it won't matter. But she's fallen,  _ hard _ , for Jenna Cameron, and even though it feels silly, she does find herself wondering if this is actually what loving someone feels like. She hasn't dared speak it out loud, feels like that might jinx this good thing between them, so she keeps it to herself, and tries not to think of its inevitable ending.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," Jenna says as they sit down at the kitchen table to eat. Maria pauses, her fork not quite at her eggs yet, and she takes a deep breath, waiting for Jenna to continue. "I left Roswell because Charlie got transferred and-"

"I understand."

And Maria does. She understands changing your plans for family better than most people. It's why she's still in Roswell, after all.

"It doesn't mean I want to go," Jenna continues, and Maria doesn't want to hope. She took something for herself once, had kissed Michael Guerin because she wanted to, and then she'd had to deal with the fallout of not only watching him spiral in the wake of Max's death, but of telling Alex she'd been wrong about Texas being  _ just _ a drunken hookup. Maria isn't sure her heart has recovered enough yet to allow herself to take something she wants again.

"Your sister matters more than this silly little town," she replies before she regrets it.

"Maria." 

She spears some of her eggs, shoving the food in her mouth before she says something else she'll regret. But Jenna isn't eating, is still staring at her, like she isn't done, like somehow there's more to say. She lets Jenna reach out, taking Maria's free hand in hers.

"You knew I'd have to leave again. Charlie is still…"

Maria takes a deep breath as Jenna trails off, putting her fork down and looking over at Jenna. 

"Will you come back?"

She needs to know. She needs to ask it, because if Jenna isn't, if this is over, she needs to be certain. She doesn't want something open ended, she doesn't want an uncertainty. 

"You want me to come back?"

Maria laughs at the absolute absurdity of the question, until she realizes, as she focuses back on Jenna, that Jenna is thinking the same thing about her. Jenna is just as uncertain about how Maria feels about her.

They really make quite the pair. “We’re going back to bed  _ right now _ , and I’m going to show you just how much I  _ want you to come back _ ,” Maria says with a laugh, grabbing Jenna’s hand and pulling her out of her chair, leading her back down the hallway to the bedroom.


	3. Malex + Congrats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: about their first anniversary (for [lsobelevans](https://lsobelevans.tumblr.com/))
> 
> Originally posted [here](https://jumbled-nonsense.tumblr.com/post/190680032458) on tumblr

Alex wakes slowly, coming aware of the waking world once more. His eyes still shut he can feel Michael’s presence in the space next to him. Most nights they fall asleep, needing the skin to skin contact and wake up in the shape of two parentheses, their heads so close sometimes their foreheads touch. More often than not, Alex wakes to the feel of Michael’s curls ticking his face, their legs tangled together, Michael’s feet sandwiching Alex’s foot like he can’t bear to not be holding onto him somehow.

This morning, Alex wakes and their heads are inches apart, the space between them allowing him to watch as Michael sleeps on unaware. They’re both early risers - Alex from the years in the Air Force, and Michael from always needing to be busy - so he rarely gets the opportunity to revel in the quiet moments of the morning.

Alex lifts his hand and carefully pushes back a stubborn curl that’s fallen over Michael’s eyes, letting his fingers drift across Michael’s forehead, tracing the arch of his nose. It’s just a tad crooked, the remnants of the bar fights Alex has heard about, but never actually seen Michael engage in. It’s been a quiet year - a year since the last time they felt their lives were in danger. A year of quiet mornings and peaceful nights, the two of them learning how to live together, exist in the same space, learning to talk and communicate in ways they’d always been afraid of. A year of falling asleep together, and waking up together. 

Alex knows the date, knows today marks exactly one year. He doesn't know if Michael had been paying attention, but it doesn't really matter anyway. Because even if Michael goes off to work today, and spends the day at the junkyard, he will still come  _ home _ , back to Alex at the end of the day. The same way Alex will head off to work, go about his day as if there's nothing particularly  _ special _ about this day. But at the end of the day, when he's tired of staring at a computer screen, he will come back here, home, to Michael.

“Morning, Private,” Michael says in that sleepy voice that Alex knows he’s never going to tire of hearing. He doesn’t reply, just watches as Michael blinks awake, lets him reach up to rub the sleep from his eyes. 

Maybe he’ll work from home today. There’s nothing pressing he needs to do today, nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow. Maybe today they can take this tiny victory, this one year of them,  _ together _ , and spend it together. Alex doesn’t know what they’ll do, and for all he cares in this perfect moment, they could spend it in bed.

“Were you watching me sleep?”

He smiles, pushing himself up towards Michael just enough to press their lips together in a quick good morning kiss. He feels Michael’s hand move to his back, fingers teasing the bare skin. Alex drapes himself across Michael, their faces only inches apart now. He smiles at the stubborn curl that falls back across Michael's forehead, like it's supposed to lay there, just above his left eye.

Alex loves that curl.

“We should just stay in bed today,” Michael continues, staring back at Alex. "Play hooky."

"We could do that," Alex hums in agreement.


	4. Malex + hush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: one character comforting the other (for anon)
> 
> Originally posted [here](https://jumbled-nonsense.tumblr.com/post/190709874988) on tumblr

"Fuck you," Michael spat at Max's pod, kicking dirt up from the cave floor with the toe of his boot. " _ Fuck you _ ."

He was angry. Pissed off that Max had decided to resurrect Rosa. That giving Liz her sister back was more important than his own life. His fucking martyr complex finally getting the best of him. Always acting like he knew what was best, for everyone.

What had been so wrong about leaving Rosa in the pod? She'd been dead for a decade, some extra days or weeks weren't gonna matter.

He lets his anger get the better of him, can feel it rolling through him, an itch he can't quite scratch, energy thrumming beneath his skin. He'd learned a long time ago how to kept a lid on it - had to just to survive the fucking foster homes he'd been shuffled around into. Sometimes the fingers of his right hand absently touch the smooth skin of his left, the feeling still jarring to him because he’s spent the last ten years believing he deserved the scars, deserved the broken bones and the pain of muscle spasms it caused from never healing correctly.

“You had  _ no right _ ,” he seethes. “I never asked for a reason. And you just  _ decided _ that what I wanted didn’t matter. That like always,  _ you knew best _ . Well, fuck you, Max.”

He hears some rocks tumble down the side of the cave, and ignores it, reeling himself back in, pulling his telekinesis back. He’d learned at a young age to keep a lid on it, had forced himself to learn to control his abilities. It was the only way he’d known how to protect Max and Isobel, even when they were hours away in another town, happy and adopted and loved.

Michael falls to his knees, his hands hitting the dirt. He can feel the tears in his eyes, not out of sadness, but anger.

He doesn’t hear someone else enter the cave. Doesn’t hear the footsteps or feel their presence until someone is in front of him, their hands cupping his face, thumbs gently rubbing at his cheeks, at the tears that have fallen. Michael knows those hands, has dreams and nightmares involving those hands, and he can’t be here, he can’t,  _ he can’t- _

“Guerin.”

Michael shakes his head, trying to pull away, because Alex isn’t here, why would he? How would he even know where Michael was?

“Guerin, look at me. Open your eyes.”

When he does, it’s to Alex. To his beautiful face, but there’s so much concern etched into his features, and Michael doesn’t like that. Because Alex doesn’t deserve this, deserve him. Alex deserves to be happy, and maybe Michael isn’t that. When have they ever made each other happy? They can’t even have a fucking  _ conversation _ .

“There ya go.”

He lets Alex pull him forward, going willingly, letting his head fall to his shoulder, pressing his face into the skin of his neck, breathing him in. There’s always something about being with Alex, when they’re together, that has always had the ability to calm every bit of chaos raging inside him. He doesn’t like to think about it too much, doesn’t like to dwell on what it means.

Michael doesn’t believe in soul mates, thinks it’s some crap fantasy invented by humanity because their lives are boring and in need of some excitement. But with Alex, when he’s with Alex, he always has a little more trouble with the concept. Because when he’s with Alex, he starts to think that maybe,  _ maybe _ , there’s some truth to it.


	5. Camluca + Valentine's Day shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For [partsofthesamecosmicbeing](https://partsofthesamecosmicbeing.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Originally posted [here](https://jumbled-nonsense.tumblr.com/post/190822599963) on tumblr

“Can you two please leave? Or get a room?” Maria said, placing two drafts on the booth table where Liz and Max were cuddling.

“Tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day!”

Maria couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually _cared_ about the Hallmark-style holiday. With a smile, she turned back toward the bar and got back to work.

It wasn’t until later, as she was serving some townies who’d parked themselves at the bar and were currently working their way through a bottle of whiskey, that she saw Liz approaching out of the corner of her eye. A glance further back, Maria saw Max shrugging on his jacket, waiting.

Liz didn’t even hesitate in coming around to the other side of the bar, and taking hold of Maria’s arm, leading her into the back room that led up to the apartment.

“Are you okay?”

Maria frowned. Of course she was okay, why was Liz even asking-

“Okay listen, I want you to have some fun tomorrow. Just, I’m setting you up, okay?”

Maria groaned. She didn’t know if she trusted Liz’s taste in men _at all_. Maria wasn’t sure she trusted her own though either.

“Just, trust me?”

It was one hell of a mischievous look on Liz’s face, but Maria wasn’t about to deny her best friend this one thing. If the date ended up being terrible, well, at least she tried. 

\----

All Liz had told her was to be outside the Crashdown at five-thirty, and so Maria took a seat on one of the benches that lined the sidewalk out of the diner, and waited. She could see the sun going down over the horizon, painting the sky a gorgeous palette of yellow, orange, red, and purple. She hadn’t dressed _too_ fancy, a soft long sleeve pink shirt, with a plain white sweater. The February chill made her pull her black winter jacket tighter, but she was glad she’d worn a hat.

Checking her phone for the time, what Maria didn’t expect when she looked up was to see Jenna Cameron standing there.

Oh shit.

“Jenna?”

“Hi. Are you-”

“No way.”

They both laughed, and Jenna slid onto the seat next to her. Her wavy blonde hair fell down over her shoulders, and Maria resisted the urge to reach out and push some of it back out of her face.

She was so screwed.

It wasn’t like Maria hadn’t explored the possibility that she’d been attracted to women - she’d tried to repress her feeling for Rosa for years as a teenager. 

“Now Max saying no bars and no burger joints make a lot more sense.”

Maria groaned. “Of course he did. Devious assholes.”

Jenna laughed, and Maria realized how screwed she really was. Back when she’d been working for the sheriff’s department, Jenna had been a regular at the Pony, stopping by for an after-shift drink before she headed home. Maria had always enjoyed her company, and Jenna had been just as tight lipped to talk about her own personal life - a trait Maria recognized in herself. It had felt like the two of them had started making ground on opening up when everything in Roswell seemed to go to shit overnight.

“You hungry?”

Jenna smiled. “Starved.”

\----

After, Maria snuck the two of them up to the roof of the Crashdown. If Liz had planned on bringing Max up here, she was outta luck. And it was their own fault for setting her up with Jenna anyway. 

“So why’d you come back? To Roswell?”

Jenna hummed, but didn’t answer right away, taking a seat on the boards underneath the sign. Maria paused for a moment, admiring the view. Dinner has been great, it had been everything Maria thought dinner with someone should be. She wondered if she felt that way because it was with Jenna, someone she already knew, and that this _blind date_ wasn’t exactly all that blind at all.

“I thought I wouldn’t miss this place, after I left. With the small town politics, and the alien conspiracies - but I did. And I missed the people.” 

Maria slid onto the bench next to her, and waited, leaning up against the side of the sign’s wooden structure so she could face Jenna. She placed the bottle of whiskey they’d stopped and snatched from the Pony in the space between them, and Maria watched as Jenna reached over, grabbing it and taking a pull.

“Which people?” Maria asked, feeling just a little bit brave as she took the bottle, tipping it back between her lips.

It felt like there was an electric charge in the air, in the space between them, that hadn’t been there earlier. Maria put the bottle back down, this time securing the cap, and placing it on the ground out of the way. But she didn’t move, instead she watched as Jenna closed her eyes, taking a deep calming breath before she was turning and closing the space between them.

Maria watched as Jenna slid into the space between her legs, as Jenna placed one her hands on Maria’s thigh, the other bracing herself on the wood of the bench, leaning forward so there were only inches of space between them. Maria watched as Jenna’s eyes tracked her own movement, waiting for Maria to say yes, to agree, to let her close that space.

“Will you fucking kiss me already?” She said instead, not knowing then if she moved or Jenna did, but their mouths met, and Maria immediately reached out, her hands settling on Jenna’s hips, pulling her closer, needing her closer. Jenna’s lips were softer, softer than Maria had even imagined.

Slowly, Jenna pulled away, separating their mouths, but pressing their foreheads together as they both gasped for air. 

“I’ve never actually had a Valentine before,” Maria whispered, not sure her voice could go any louder at the moment.

“Never?” Jenna asks, pulling back just far enough to look at her, but close enough to still touch, her hands moving up, fingers tracing the journey from Maria’s thighs, up her sides, until Jenna’s hands were cupping Maria’s face. Maria leaned into the touch, couldn’t believe how good it felt, how right it felt.

“No.”

Jenna waited a moment before surging forward again, and Maria let her.


	6. Marliz + Valentine's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For [bisexualalienblast](https://bisexualalienblast.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Originally posted [here](https://jumbled-nonsense.tumblr.com/post/190822896653) on tumblr

“What if she doesn’t like it?”

Maria stared at the card she’d made for Liz. It was in the shape of a heart, the border a rainbow of glitter that she’d meticulously placed, wanting it to be  _ perfect _ . The holiday was sorta ridiculous, but it also felt like the perfect time to ask, and maybe if Liz rejected her, it wouldn’t hurt quite as bad.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Why wouldn’t she like it?”

Maria pushed the card toward him, opened up to the inside and the  _ Be Mine? _ written out in her best cursive script.

“This! What if she thinks I just mean…” she trailed off, closing the card, and placing it back on the table.

“You mean-?”

Maria rolled her eyes before burying her face in her hands. “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean!”

It took a moment before she heard the laugh from Alex, and glanced up at him. He was smiling, the jerk, like this was funny. Maria wanted to kill him.

“Just give her the card.”

\----

Maria sat at the counter at the Crashdown, waiting for Liz. The card lay in front of her, mocking her, and the longer Maria sat here, the more she wondered if this was all just a terrible idea.

“Hey! Happy Happy Valentine’s Day!”

Liz was decked out in her Crashdown uniform, and Maria knew it was because her shift was about to start. But she needed to give Liz the card before she changed her mind and burned it or ripped it up and threw it away.

‘Happy Valentine’s Day,” Maria replied, pushing the card toward her best friend. “This is-”

Liz’s face lit up, and Maria smiled. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

“Oh! Your gift is upstairs. I was gonna wait until after my shift and then stop by.”

“That’s okay. I just wanted to give you this first.”

She watched as Liz slid the card out, the smile never leaving her face. She watched as Liz opened it up, reading the words, but couldn’t gauge her reaction.

“Maria?”

Oh no.

Maria moved to stand up, to leave, to get out of there. She’d messed this up, didn’t she?

She was halfway to the door, when she felt someone grab her wrist. Turning, she saw Liz, that stubborn determination on her face, as she slid her hand down into Maria’s and pulled her toward the back of the restaurant, away from the prying eyes of both the customers, and her father.

“You mean it?” Liz asked, and Maria stared at her. Of course she  _ meant it _ . 

Maria nodded, still not sure what was going on.

“I should go get yours but I want to-” Liz cut herself off, taking a step forward, toward Maria, who was already leaning up against the wall. “Can I?”

_ Oh _ .

Maria nodded, and Liz leaned forward, pressing her lips to Maria’s in a quick kiss. Before pulling back for a moment, and catching Maria’s gaze, searching for something. Maria couldn’t do anything but stare back, hoping Liz found it, because she wasn’t even sure she remembered how to speak.

As Liz pressed forward, their mouths meeting again, Maria pushed back at her, finally remembering how to move, and wrapped her arms around Liz, pulling her closer.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Liz whispered in her ear as they pulled apart, and all Maria could do was lean forward and bury her face in the soft skin of Liz’s neck, hoping Liz could feel her smile.


	7. Malex Fluff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says on the tin.

Michael is napping, his face smooshed into one of the pillows on the bed, in something that looks uncomfortable, but probably isn’t. Alex hates to wake him up, but they don’t have plans tonight, and a request from Maria to see him isn’t something he likes to turn down. Even if they see each other quite a bit, with everything that has happened recently he takes any opportunity he can get to see her. **  
**

He kneels next to the bed, pushing some stray curls out of Michael’s face, letting his fingers linger for a moment, reveling in how far they’ve come. It’s not perfect, and Alex knows it’s better this way, learning about each other bit by bit. There have still been arguments, words exchanged in the heat of the moment that have sent Michael sleeping on the living room sofa for the night. One epic clusterfuck of a conversation had ended when Michael had turned and walked right out the front door, getting in his truck and disappearing for almost a full day. That fight had been the result of Alex trying to decide if he should go along with his honorable discharge that was coming up, or re-up his contract.

“Hey,” Michael mumbles, eyes fluttering open.

“Hey ” Alex leans forward, pressing his own lips to Michael’s quickly, his palm gently pressed to Michael’s cheek. “I gotta go meet Maria. But I’ll be back later.”

“Now?”

Alex smiles as Michael reaches up, placing his hand over Alex’s.

“I’ll bring back something to eat.”

“Stop trying to fatten me up. I have a figure to maintain.”

In the time since Michael moved into the cabin, he generally does most of the cooking for them. Alex has loved discovering how much Michael liked to cook, nodding along every time he’s suggested a new menu item to try. The Airstream has a kitchenette, but Alex knows it’s nothing compared to the appliances of the cabin. A new fridge, as well as a new range, had been on the list of some of the first things he’d replaced in the cabin almost a year ago. 

Alex watches now as Michael shifts his head, to press a kiss to Alex’s palm, his eyes never leaving Alex’s.

“Go back to sleep.”

Michael shakes his head, before dropping back down onto the fluff of his pillow. Alex leans forward, pressing a quick kiss to his lips, pulling back before it has a chance to get heated, and stands up. Buffy is curled up at the foot of the bed, nestled into where Michael’s feet are under the covers, and it’s a sight Alex loves to commit to memory.


	8. Michael & Max

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this the weekend before 2x06 aired, when 2x05 had filled me with a bazillion feels about Michael & Max and family. But re-reading it now, I don’t remember where I was going with it, so I figured i’d toss it out into the void instead of leaving it to die in my WIP folder.

“You fixed my Jeep?”

Michael rolls his eyes at the surprise in Max’s voice. 

“It’s what I do. Plus, you won’t get rid of it, even when I told you-”

“Yeah yeah, I know,” Max interrupts, smiling. “It needs a new engine.”

Michael watches from where he’s leaning against the support column of the garage, watching as Max runs a hand over the hood, stopping where Michael had unceremoniously beat it with a crowbar weeks ago.

“What happened here?”

Michael shakes his head, because of course Max would notice, even after getting the engine back up and running, he’d spent another couple days getting the dents and dings out of the hood. But Max has had the Jeep since high school, too stubborn to let it go.

“I, uh, I got mad at you.”

“So you took it out on my car?”

“You weren’t exactly around for me to yell at.”

Max doesn’t reply, just nods, moving around the car toward the driver side door, like he’s savoring something. In a way, Michael can relate, even if he doesn’t quite understand Max’s attachment. He’s had the old Chevy truck since high school too, finding it in the junkyard during the summer he started working for Sanders, making a deal with the old man that if he fixed it up, got it working again, he could keep it. 

Lost in his thoughts, Michael misses Max turning around to look back at him.

“Hey Michael?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Michael shakes his head again, nodding his head toward the dashboard.

“Keys are there. I don’t wanna have to work on this again for at least a couple of months, okay?”

Max nods, glancing back toward the Jeep quickly before turning back to Michael, his gaze drifting down to MIchael’s left hand. There’s a furrow to his brow that Michael doesn’t like, something he’s too familiar with, and he doesn’t feel like getting into it with Max right now, especially over that. But he also knows that if he doesn’t let Max say his peace now, then it’ll be something hanging between them for days or weeks or months. Because Max has never been on to ever let things go.

“Just say what’s on your mind, Max. Never stopped you before.”

“Why the bandana?”

Michael sighs. He hadn’t wanted to talk about this. It’s been easy to avoid it, most people don’t ask questions. Most people don’t even notice.

“What did you think was gonna happen? That I just walk around with a perfectly healed hand after ten years?” Max flinches at the raise in his voice, and Michael shakes his head again. “I  _ told you _ people would notice.”

“You told me it was reminder-”

Michael pushes off the column, shaking his head. He’s pissed off. This isn’t something he asked for, and this isn’t something he  _ wanted _ . Even being stuck with Max in the bunker that night of the gala, he’d never really wanted to tell him about why he kept the scars and the broken bones. Why he’d never let Max heal it.

“You brought back Rosa, and you killed yourself in the process, and you left us - Liz, Isobel, me - you left us here trying to figure out a way to bring you back. And then you showed up in Rosa’s nightmares, and made us  _ hope _ , Max. Hope has gotten me nowhere in the twenty years since we came out of those pods. But for you, I did. Because Isobel was convinced we could save you, and Liz was determined to find a way.”


	9. Everyone Notices Malex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My Google Docs tells me I wrote this right after 1x07 aired in early March 2019 - another idea that I had and abandoned very quickly. At the time, I was obsessed with the idea that Max & Isobel needed to have a WHAT?! moment regarding Malex.

Maria rolls her eyes about Liz's insistence of going on Rosa's scavenger hunt, but agrees nevertheless, and heads off in the direction of the food truck - she needs a corndog because this night is definitely going to be ridiculous.

It's as she's waiting in line that she sees it - sitting on the end of the bed of Michael Guerin's truck, is Alex. With Michael Guerin. Watching  _ Mars Attacks _ . From her spot, she watches as Alex laughs at something that happens in the movie and how Guerin's body language is obviously attuned to it - like he needs to always have one eye on Alex.

What's that about?

She still wishes she'd been able to go to Prom senior year, to have seen Alex punch Kyle Valenti in the face. When Liz and recounted the tale to her in the car, the two of them had laughed and basically agreed to take Alex out the next day to make sure he was okay. Liz had made a remark that night about how it had been Michael Guerin who stepped in, pushing Kyle off Alex - Liz hadn't thought anything of it, but Maria put it in the back of her mind to think about later.

Was Michael Guerin the guy from the museum?

\--------------------

“Max, why is Michael suddenly showing up at social gatherings?”

Isobel had obviously called him to fix the projector for the movie for the VA benefit fundraiser, but she hadn't expected him to _stay_ _and watch the movie_. And she'd definitely noticed that Michael had let Alex Manes watch from his truck. And then there'd been times afterward too - more town fairs, parades, benefits at the drive-in...

“Whatdy’a mean?”

Isobel scoffs. “I mean, Michael has never come to town events! First it was the class reunion, and then he stayed for the movie at the benefit for the VA-”

“He did?”

“He was watching from the bed of his truck with Alex Manes, I don't know how you missed that.”

Max laughs, like it's  _ funny _ , and Isobel frowns at him, because how is that funny?

“Michael had this huge crush on Alex in high school. How did you miss that?”

Isobel has no idea.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3
> 
> [Come say hi on tumblr!](https://jumbled-nonsense.tumblr.com/)


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